Pentagon deposits unpack under gentle tapping

A M. VIDALES, L. PUGNALONI AND I. IPPOLITO

PHYSICAL REVIEW E - STATISTICAL PHYSICS, PLASMAS, FLUIDS AND RELATED INTERDISCIPLINARY TOPICS

The American Physical Society

Año: 2008 vol. 77 p. 1 - 6

1063-651X

We present results from simulations of regular pentagons arranged in a rectangulardie. The particles are subjected to vertical tapping. We study the behavior of the packing fraction,number of contacts and arch distributions as a function of the tapping amplitude. Pentagons showpeculiar features as compared with disks. As a general rule, pentagons tend to form less archesthan disks. Nevertheless, as the tapping amplitude is decreased, the typical size of the pentagonarches grows significantly. As a consequence, a pentagon packing reduces its packing fractionwhen tapped gently in contrast with the behavior found in rounded particle deposits